Seema Kennedy
Conservative Party
Ashton-under-Lyne Constituency
Address
13 Gainsborough Avenue
St Albans
AL1 4NJ
Goal to get Britain working again
“What I’ve really noticed is that the people of Failsworth have a strong community spirit, with loads of local groups getting stuck in.”
Seema was brought up believing that you were given talents, and that you had to use them for the best use of your community.
“I started volunteering when I was at school, carried on through university and once I went to work.
It was my own experience of work in the voluntary sector which has led me to standing for Parliament today.”
The main focus of her activity has been with groups which work for disabled children and adults.
Seema is a trustee of an organisation which runs holidays for children with special needs.
A qualified solicitor, she also spent some time working unpaid giving free legal advice to disabled people.
It was while she was doing that particular job that she decided to get more involved in politics.
“I used to find it so frustrating to work through a problem with a client, and arrive at the correct legal answer, but realise that it wasn’t the right solution for them.
“I would only be able to change things if I was inside the system.”
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Biography
The 35-year-old was born and brought up in Blackburn and graduated from Cambridge University. The mother of two boys, she is the director of a Lancashire-based family property company.
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Seema sets out here a little more about herself and the Conservative Party’s position on issues which people in Failsworth have been raising with her.
Unemployment: “There’s no doubt that especially among first-time voters this is what is most worrying them.
“The Conservatives will introduce a single, comprehensive Work Programme to get Britain working again, which will be up and running by the end of the end of this year.
“The Conservative party will aim to offer unprecedented support to all those who are looking for work, and will also introduce new sanctions for anyone who refuses to look for work.
“The Conservative vision is based on principles of the Big Society ie if you do the right thing, then we will back you all the way; but if you fail to take responsibility then the free ride is over.”
Crime and anti-social behaviour: “Time and again, I hear residents say that they want to see more police in their neighbourhoods.” says Seema.
“The Conservatives are absolutely committed to getting trained policemen out of the stations and on to the beat.
“As part of our overall drive to give power and responsibility to frontline professionals, we will work towards eliminating the tick-box culture, and give professionals discretion to act as they see fit. One way we will do this is by allowing local communities to elect police chiefs.
“Again, as part of our idea that transparent government is effective government, we will provide people with detailed data on crime in their area.”
“When it comes to anti-social behaviour, acts which are considered low-level petty crime, can make people’s lives an absolute misery.
“I have been extremely impressed by Councillor Paul Martin’s work on tackling dog fouling in his ward,” says Seema.
“People make a joke about these sorts of issues, but working on an unglamorous but important job like this has the power to make a big difference in people’s lives.”
Immigration: Seema has a particular interest in this question, as on both sides of her family she has parents or grandparents who are immigrants.
In fact, she spent her earliest years in Iran, her father’s native country, until the Islamic revolution there forced the family to return to her mother’s home town of Blackburn.
“I recognise only too well the enormous economic and cultural benefits, as well as the great British tradition of tolerance, which immigration has brought.
“The problem is that if immigration is unfettered, it leads to a strain on resources and tensions between different ethnic groups.”
“The Conservative party’s policy is to bring down the numbers of people coming to the UK to the tens of thousands (as it was when we were in power in the mid 1990s) rather than the hundreds of thousands.
“There will be a points-based system for migrants, as there is in Australia, and there will be a cap on the total number of people coming to the country.
“If a foreigner wishes to marry a British citizen, then he or she will have to pass an exam to prove their English language skills.”
The family: “I have been blessed to grow up as part of a large and loving family,” says Seema.
“Most of my mother’s family still lives in Blackburn, and during this election period, I’ve been relying on my mum, aunty, mother-in-law, and of course my husband, to help me look after my two little boys.
“I am absolutely delighted that David Cameron has said that he wants to make Britain the most family-friendly country in Europe.”
Conservative support for the family will involve 4,500 more health visitors, support for Sure Start centres, a right to flexible parental leave, and tax benefits for people who are married or in civil partnerships.
